Chapter 10 Section 3 Zhang Han Surrenders

After the defeat of Julu, Zhang Han concentrated his troops in Jiyuan, south of Julu.Xiang Yu took advantage of the victory to catch up to the south bank of the Zhangshui River, and the two armies temporarily faced each other.Due to the repeated defeats of the Qin army, Qin II sent someone to blame Zhang Han. Prime Minister Zhao Gao was afraid of being involved, and wanted to use Zhang Han as a scapegoat.Zhang Han was very frightened when he heard the news.At this time, Chen Yu wrote to Zhang Han, urging him to defect to Qin.Chen Yu pointed out to Zhang Han: Bai Qi and Meng Tian were both well-known generals in the Qin Dynasty, and they both made great contributions, but they were still inevitably killed in the end.The Qin Dynasty was killed for meritorious deeds, and also for ineffective ones. Everyone knew that the Qin Dynasty was bound to perish. Why did the generals join forces with the princes to attack Qin together and divide the land for the king!Zhang Han has some doubts.He secretly sent someone to ask Xiang Yu for peace, but Xiang Yu did not immediately agree.Xiang Yu sent General Pu to lead his troops day and night, crossing the Zhangshui from Sanhujin to the south, defeated the Qin army again, and cut off Zhang Han's retreat.Xiang Yu led the main force to attack again, and defeated the Qin army in Khanshui (a tributary of Zhangshui, near Linzhang County, Hebei Province today).Zhang Han was defeated one after another. He had no reinforcements and was afraid of being killed by Qin II and Zhao Gao, so he asked Xiang Yu to surrender again.This time Xiang Yu agreed.In July of the third year of Qin II (207 BC), Zhang Han led a Qin army of more than 200,000 people and surrendered to Xiang Yu at the Yin Ruins (now west of Anyang City, Henan Province) on the south bank of the Huan (Huanhuan) River.Xiang Yu made Zhang Han king of Yong and placed him in the Chu army.So far, the rebel army led by Xiang Yu has won a major victory in annihilating the main force of the Qin army, thus laying the foundation for victory in the entire war of annihilating Qin, and creating favorable conditions for Liu Bang to enter Guanzhong and capture Xianyang, the capital of the Qin Dynasty.

The great victory in the Battle of Julu was due to the fact that the war waged by the rebel army to overthrow the brutal rule of the Qin Dynasty was a just war, so the soldiers were able to fight bravely with one against ten.At the same time, it is also because Xiang Yu has excellent military command ability.In particular, the method of "breaking the boat and sinking the boat" was suitable for the geographical conditions and people's psychological conditions at that time, and it could make the soldiers of the Chu army unite: only by fighting hard and winning the victory can there be a way to survive, thus achieving brilliant results of nine battles and nine victories. .